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Sunday, January 31, 2016

Wow, a whole month of January 2016 has already gone by! Somehow, I read 18 books this month, and I don't know how in the world that happened. Actually, it may be 19 now, since I'm writing this the day before it goes up! So yeah, 18 or 19 books. That's insane!

Books Read:

Thief of Lies by Brenda Drake

Not Okay Cupid by Heidi R. Kling

This Song is (Not) For You by Laura Nowlin

This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

The Girlfriend Request by Jodie Andrefski

The Heir and the Spare by Emily Albright

Lois Lane: Cloudy With A Chance of Destruction by Gwenda Bond

Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater

Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Thicker Than Water by Kelly Fiore

The Year We Fell Apart by Emily Martin

The Yearbook by Carol Masciola

Identity Crisis by Melissa Schorr

Because You'll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

The Secret to Letting Go by Katherine Fleet

Favorite Book of the Month:Favorite Cover of the Month:

What I've Been Watching:

Once Upon a Time! I don't know how, but I've managed to get halfway through season 3 this month. Yes, that means I also watched seasons one and two...

I also finished Parks & Recreation because the last season went up on Netflix and I couldn't resist. I think my favorite episode was definitely the Johnny Karate one.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

All the Bright Places by Jennifer NivenProdigy by Marie Lu (Legend #2... I definitely have to reread Legend first!)

For Review:

On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis (thank you so much Abrams! I'M SO PUMPED FOR THIS ONE.)My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix (Thank you QuirkBooks!)Arena by Holly Jennings (Thank you Berkley Publishing Group!)

Genius: The Game by Leopoldo Gout (Thank you Macmillan!)Draw the Line by Laurent Linn (Thank you Simon & Schuster!)Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor (Thank you HMH!)

How Willa Got Her Groove Back by Emily McKayHolding Court by K.C. Held
Thank you to Entangled Teen for these two wonderful lovelies!

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn't play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone's business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he's been emailing, will be compromised.
With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtations every day, Simon's junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he's pushed out-without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he's ever met.

To begin, let me start off by saying that this book has been getting so much hype. Was I a bit nervous about this? Yes. Was the hype false? No.

Simon vs. the Homo-Sapien's Agenda follows none other than Simon Spier himself, a boy who has been corresponding with another guy online named Blue. Both of them are falling for each other though neither knows who they are really talking to. All they know is that they go to the same school. They have both been keeping their sexual orientation a secret too, as neither of them has come out. Will they ever be able to meet in real life?

I FREAKING LOVED THIS BOOK. I immediately fell for the wonderful character that is Simon. He's so awesome and I adored his love for Oreos. I mean, come on. Oreos will forever be the best cookie. Especially the red velvet or minty ones. ANYWHO, Simon was just such an honest character. He really grew and developed throughout the story and I loved being with him when he went through life changes.

I also really liked Blue. He was very mysterious and I get why he was scared of being honest and coming out. Some people can be really cruel about it. It's sad that people have to be scared and worried about being themselves! Everyone should be able to be themselves and not be worried about others personally attacking them.

One thing worth mentioning about this book is the amazing lessons that Albertalli has expertly interwoven throughout. Simon had so many realizations that make so much sense:

"White shouldn't be the default any more than straight should be the default. There shouldn't even be a default."

"Why is straight the default? Everyone should have to declare one way or another, and it shouldn't be this big awkward thing whether you're straight, gay, bi, or whatever. I'm just saying."

All I know is this book is one that you want to read and have in your life. It's quirky, fun, and even includes some wonderful lessons. Plus, the characters are amazing! Oh, and the Oreos. Let's not forget the Oreos.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Tenley
“Ten” Lockwood is an average seventeen-year-old girl…who has spent the
past thirteen months locked inside the Prynne Asylum. The reason? Not
her obsession with numbers, but her refusal to let her parents choose
where she’ll live—after she dies.

There is an eternal truth most
of the world has come to accept: Firstlife is merely a dress rehearsal,
and real life begins after death.

In the Everlife, two realms are
in power: Troika and Myriad, longtime enemies and deadly rivals. Both
will do anything to recruit Ten, including sending their top Laborers to
lure her to their side. Soon, Ten finds herself on the run, caught in a
wild tug-of-war between the two realms who will do anything to win the
right to her soul. Who can she trust? And what if the realm she’s drawn
to isn’t home to the boy she’s falling for? She just has to stay alive
long enough to make a decision…

I can't wait for this one! I actually recently got a copy of it through Netgalley and I'm hoping to read it very soon. It will be published on February 23.

When curvaceous Annalise Bradley's scandalous freshmen year hookup sparks the anger of her female classmates, three of them decide to get back at her by "catfishing" her, creating a fake online profile of the perfect boy to toy with her affections.
Against her better nature, introverted Noelle Spiers, goes along with her friends' plan, hoping to distract Annalise from dreamy Cooper Franklin, her lifelong crush who has fallen for Annalise instead.
As Annalise discovers she is being played and seeks revenge, Noelle increasingly regrets her role in the cruel hoax and tries to salvage their relationship.
Told in alternative perspectives, IDENTITY CRISIS covers romance, betrayal, and timeless friendship in the age of modern technology.

**Thank you so much to Merit Press for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review!**

Identity Crisis follows two characters: Annalise and Noelle. Annalise has gone through a pretty scandalous past, though only she knows what actually went down. Rumors can ruin lives. Noelle is best friends with the girl whose boyfriend was also involved in the scandal. She also has a huge crush on Cooper, the guy who has been eying Annalise quite a lot lately. That's why her best friend, Eva, comes up with the idea to catfish Annalise and make her fall for someone who isn't real in order to get Cooper away from her.

One thing I really loved about this book was the dual perspectives. I don't know about you, but I'm a sucker for those! It's really cool to not get into only one character's head, but two. Especially two who are somewhat enemies, in a way.

Though Noelle started out as a character that I couldn't stand, I began to like her towards the end. She really grew as a character and began to realize what she should and shouldn't do in life, and that was respectable. I also like how she began to stand up for herself and not care what others thought about her.

I felt so bad for Annalise though just about the whole story. People didn't really listen to her because she wasn't "popular" so she couldn't exactly tell people what really happened when it came to the scandal. If I was in her position, I don't know how I'd even show up at school. However, she did have a friend that helped her through it all, and sometimes that's really all you need.

Identity Crisis was the perfect story of what it's like to be on either side of the bully spectrum, and I honestly couldn't put it down. It was very honest and had a strong message shining throughout. I'm very excited to read more by Schorr in the future.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

The Year We Fell Apart
by Emily Martin
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: January 26th 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction

In the tradition of Sarah Dessen, this powerful debut novel is a compelling portrait of a young girl coping with her mother’s cancer as she figures out how to learn from—and fix—her past.
Few things come as naturally to Harper as epic mistakes. In the past year she was kicked off the swim team, earned a reputation as Carson High’s easiest hook-up, and officially became the black sheep of her family. But her worst mistake was destroying her relationship with her best friend, Declan.
Now, after two semesters of silence, Declan is home from boarding school for the summer. Everything about him is different—he’s taller, stronger…more handsome. Harper has changed, too, especially in the wake of her mom’s cancer diagnosis.
While Declan wants nothing to do with Harper, he’s still Declan, her Declan, and the only person she wants to talk to about what’s really going on. But he’s also the one person she’s lost the right to seek comfort from.
As their mutual friends and shared histories draw them together again, Harper and Declan must decide which parts of their past are still salvageable, and which parts they’ll have to let go of once and for all.
In this honest and affecting tale of friendship and first love, Emily Martin brings to vivid life the trials and struggles of high school and the ability to learn from past mistakes over the course of one steamy North Carolina summer.

First off, I just thought that I'd mention I'm listening to Taylor Swift because her music could be the perfect playlist for this book in my opinion. Well, maybe not all her music, but the soundtrack Red works perfectly! So yeah, currently jamming out to T. Swizzle whilst trying to gather all of my thoughts, because this book was definitely something.

The Year We Fell Apart follows Harper, a girl whose mother recently got diagnosed with cancer and whose ex-boyfriend/best friend currently came back to town. The two of them broke up while Declan (the ex) was at a boarding school, though he never exactly knew why. However, now that Declan is back, Harper can't help but wonder if she still has feelings for him. I mean, she, Cory, and Declan all used to be the best of friends before he left and his mother was killed. It was better times for all three of them back then.

Now, Harper spends most of her time getting drunk and partying with her new best friend. She seems to have two sides and being with this new friend really makes her become someone else. She even has a guy, Kyle, whose completely obsessed with her, or rather, what she can give to him. But now, Harper isn't sure that it's the life for her, because of Declan.

To be completely honest, I'd never read a book about exes getting back together, so I actually rather liked that idea! I really liked Harper as a character and adored her friendship with Cory. Cory was such a good friend to her. He always came and got her when she sounded drunk or needed a ride. Cory just wanted to make sure that Harper was always safe. They were literally awesome friends.

I also really liked Declan. I was rooting for Harper and Declan the whole time. However, I wish he was a little more understanding about Kyle at times! One of my favorite things was the way that the reader found out about why they broke up. The whole story kind of gives out hints and tidbits about what went down, but it isn't until about 75% of the way in when you get told and it kinda just hits you RIGHT IN THE FEELS.

Trust me, if you've not preordered a copy of this one yet, you're going to want to.

Emily Martin lives and writes in the Greater Boston area, though she will always call Michigan home. She has a penchant for impromptu dance parties, vintage clothing, and traveling to new places. When not writing, she can be found hiking New England’s peaks, searching for the perfect cup of hot chocolate, or baking something pumpkin-flavored.

Emily’s debut young adult novel, THE YEAR WE FELL APART, comes out January 26, 2016 from Simon Pulse.